Reading, Writing, Arithmetic

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Over the three and a half years that Lee and I have known each other, this is the first time that we get to be in the same country on Valentine's Day.  We'll probably spend less money, too, since we won't be sending three pounds of chocolate and gifts to each other across the Atlantic.

This week is what England's schools call 'half-term' and now I already have my first week of holiday (vacation, in America).  Roughly every six weeks, the schools have at least a week break which is a nice change from the schools in the U.S.  I suppose it is a hassle for any parents who aren't affiliated with a school here and who have to find childcare for a week at a time.  Most parents I've spoken with use their children's grandparents as babysitters or take time off of work to spend quality time with their kids.  This is also a great time for the teachers to rejuvenate and prepare for the next weeks leading up to Easter.  The more frequent breaks and reliably short school terms are healthier for the students and teachers than the seemingly endless days on end of which I experienced.

School days at a Catholic primary school of course differ from my school memories because we are allowed to say prayers and teach religion in school here.  Children generally act the same at this school as any school I've visited in the States or Ireland--a few squirrely (cheeky, in England) children, but overall, very polite youngsters.  There is also the small percentage of very high ability learners and rather low ability students and then the rest who fit somewhere in the middle in every classroom.

For a student, a typical day at this school starts at 9 A.M. with coats and bags hooked in the cloak room and then filing into the classroom at tables of six or eight children.  All of the children wear red jumpers (sweatshirts or sweaters depending on what the parents purchase), white collared shirts, and dark blue trousers, dresses, or skirts with black shoes.  Each child's presence is recorded in a very official book and the teacher says, "Good morning, _____," to each student and they must respond, "Good morning, Mrs. _______."  Silent reading begins the day for 15-20 minutes and during that time, a break is held to watch the morning broadcast which is written, produced, and directed by year six (aged 10-11) students.  During the broadcast, two prayers are said before starting the school day.  After wrapping up reading, the numeracy lesson begins for an hour of working in groups with other children who match one another's ability.  A short playtime (recess, in America) is held from 10:30 to 10:45 in which the children play outside while the teachers drink tea or coffee and chat.  I use this time to mark numeracy books since it takes about 10 minutes to fill the electric kettle and boil the water for the senior teachers and then re-fill and boil it for the rest of us to get a drink.
After break, everyone convenes for literacy and works in levelled-ability groups again for about an hour until the children wash their hands and use the toilets (bathroom, in America) to prepare for dinnertime (lunch).  Dinnertime is quite different from what I remember:  the children are placed in their seats by dinner ladies by the order in which they enter the hall (cafeteria) so there is no wandering around, spending time to choose a seat.  Two children a day are assigned to wear checkered aprons and chef's hats to serve the salad at the salad bar--the mini-chefs look charming and incredibly humorous at the same time.  Two jugs, one of water and one of milk, are set on every table for the children who buy a hot dinner to fill-up their cup.  (No bags or cartons of milk exist at my school and only 1% white milk is offered--no 2%, chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry here.  I mentioned these options that exist in Ashland, Ohio to my students and there was almost a riot.)  Upon finishing their dinner, the children are allowed to go to a club or out to playtime.  Some of the clubs include cricket, oragami, choir, around the world, and street dance.  From sitting down for dinner to returning to class, an hour passes.
Once returning to class at 1 P.M., the day varies each afternoon until 3:15 when the children are dismissed.  First, the afternoon attendance is recorded and follows the same pattern as the morning routine, but this time it begins with, "Good afternoon."  The main classroom teacher will teach the topic (currently the Seven Wonders of the World), P.E. (focusing on gymnastics right now), Art, or Science.  On Tuesdays, however, two separate teachers come to the classroom to teach French and Music.
When the children leave for the day, they meet their parents in the yard (playground) or walk home on their own if they are old enough to do so.

These first five weeks, most of my learning has been new vocabulary for everyday things:  talking back in America would be 'answering back' in England; looking or sounding disappointed is called being cross here; a student who is acting like a brat is called being 'cheeky' in England--I've been told that 'brat' is a bad word here; and a 'madam' is a title given to a little girl who is trying to rule the roost.  I'm sure there is much more vocabulary to be learnt and sometimes, my biggest headache at the end of the day is just trying to replace words I've used for 24 years with the English terms.

I would much rather tire my brain learning new words than exhausting it dealing with incredibly rude children as a substitute (supply, in England) teacher--which is exactly what happened everyday I was assigned days at Ashland High School and two of the primary schools in the upper grades.  Those days seemed longer than weeks sometimes and I'm very happy that my life has moved on from that debacle.  Children here are taught to hold doors open for adults and are expected to greet visitors to the classroom--often one child is assigned to be in charge of the door.  "Please" and "thank you" are required words to get and receive anything that is given to you if you are a child, but of course the adults model these expectations as well.  Whenever a child does act out, they are spoken to by an adult calmly and then a letter of apology is written to the adult and anyone else who may have been harmed in the incident.  Words of the week are focused on for the entire school--last week was compassion--and time is given each day to reflect on how one can demonstrate this character word.  The best difference about teaching in this school than being a supply teacher in Ashland is that if you demand and model respect, you get it back from the children--in Ashland, you get laughed at by the students.

Below are a few photos to illustrate a day in an English school that I found online--we're not allowed to take photos in school--and also some recipes for you to try of which Lee and I have put on our favourites list.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

This is a very close illustration to what the children wear everyday, minus the neckties.  Girls have more options to mix-and-match, but at least they aren't getting ridiculed for what they wear to school--which is what can happen in America.

All of the kids do change to their "p.e. kits" which consist of white t-shirts, blue or black shorts, and "pumps" which are lace-less black shoes.  It's just like teaching with Poitier, but without the boxing battle.

A similar depiction to what our salad bar looks like and the kids' expressions are similar as well.

Every school subject (numeracy, literacy, topic) has its own book in which the children record their work.  There are even exercise books for homework.  The books are sometimes different sizes and some have blank pages, lined pages, and grids, but they make grading and marking much easier to keep track of for the teachers.

Recipes

North African Harira

A soup that is really filling and a perfect blend of tasty spices.

2 tbsp. olive oil

225g boneless lean lamb, cut into pieces

1 onion, chopped

115g chickpeas, drained

1.5 litres (2 ¾ pints) vegetable stock

115g (4 oz.) split red lentils

2 large tomatoes, peeled, deseeded, and diced

1 red pepper, deseeded and diced

1 tbsp. tomato puree

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground turmeric

½ tsp. ground ginger

1 tbsp. coriander

1 tbsp. parsley

55g (2 oz.) long-grain rice

salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large saucepan.  Add the lamb and cook over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for 8-10 min., until lightly browned all over.  Reduce the heat, add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 min., until softened.

Increase the heat to medium, add the chickpeas, pour in the stock, and bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours.

Stir in the lentils, tomatoes, red pepper, tomato puree, sugar, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, coriander, and parsley and simmer for 15 min.  Add the rice and simmer for a further 15 min., until the rice is cooked and the lentils are tender.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove the pan from the heat.  Ladle the soup into warmed bowls, sprinkle with coriander and serve immediately.

Raspberry Tarts

Not too sweet, but still a great dessert.

6 small deep short crust pastry cases

1 egg

100g ground almonds

100g butter

90g golden caster sugar

1 orange

1 tbsp. vanilla

125g raspberry jam

crème fraiche

Preheat oven to 190 deg. C

Put 6 pastry cases on a baking tray.  Make a frangipane mixture by cracking the egg into a mixing bowl an adding 100g of almonds, 100g of butter, and 90g of sugar.  Grate over the zest of ½ an orange and add 1 tbsp. of vanilla.  Use a spoon to mix together.

Spoon a small tsp. of jam into each pastry base.  Top with a heaped tsp. of frangipane, add another small tsp. of jam, then finally another heaped tsp. of frangipane.  Put the tray in the oven on the middle shelf and set the timer for 18 min.

Serve the tarts warm when golden and cooked.  Add a dollop of crème fraiche on the side of each one.

Enchiladas Always a hit and tastes just like a restaurant's. 1 chicken or 3-4 chicken breasts 2 qt. chicken stock 2 tbsp. olive oil 1 onion, halved, cut into 1/4 –in. slices 2 green or red peppers, seeded and cut into ¼-in strips Enchilada Sauce (see below) 12 tortillas (6 in.) 2 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese 2 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese Preheat oven to 177 degrees C. Place chicken in a large pot, and pour chicken stock over it.  Add enough water to cover if necessary.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until chicken is cooked through and very tender, about 1 hour.  Transfer chicken to a bowl to cool, and reserve the stock to use for enchilada sauce if desired.  When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones, and shred; set aside. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, and cook until the slices start to soften, about 5 min.  Add peppers, and cook until tender, about 7 min.  Transfer to a bowl, and set aside. Place enchilada sauce in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  When hot, dip tortillas into sauce, one at a time, to soften, and place side by side on two baking sheets.  Divide the shredded chicken and pepper mixture among the tortillas.  Place cheese in a bowl, and toss to combine.  Top each tortilla with 2 tbsp. grated cheese.  Roll up tortillas, and place snugly seam side down in a 9x13 in. ovenproof baking dish.  Top them with the remaining enchilada sauce and with the remaining grated cheese.  Bake until the enchiladas are heated through and the cheese is melted, about 30 min.  Serve with salsa, sour cream, or both.

Enchilada Sauce Can be made a day or two before. 5 long, fresh red chiles 1 c chicken stock 2 c water 2 cans of crushed tomatoes ¼ c olive oil 1 white onion, cut into ½-in. dice 2 scallions, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced ½ c tomato paste 1 tsp. cumin 1 tsp. oregano ½ tsp. salt Cut chiles in half lengthwise; remove and discard seeds and any ribs.  Set aside.  In a small saucepan, bring chicken stock and the water to a simmer.  Add chiles; simmer until tender, about 15 min.  Set aside.   Heat olive oil in a large high-sided skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, scallions, and garlic; sauté until translucent, about 10 min.  Add tomatoes, tomato paste, red chiles and liquid, cumin, oregano, and salt.  Stir to combine.  Simmer gently for 15 min.  Transfer to the jar of a blender/food processor; puree until smooth.  Return to pan; keep hot if assembling enchiladas.

Down With the Kids

In the past week, I started my new job as a teaching assistant here in Preston.  It's in a part of town called Bamber Bridge which is just a 15 minute bus ride away from our house.  So far, everyone at the school has been welcoming and checks on me daily to see 'how I'm getting on.'  Working in a school, I'm learning much more of the local idioms than I was just crocheting at home watching Judge Judy and listening to the neighbours' quarrels through the walls.  One part of the dialect that kind of irks me is when the teachers say, "Right," after every sentence--about three times.  Usually, it starts with an, "Ah," and then followed by a, "right."  Every single sentence!  I've just been blocking it out and am trying desperately not to pick up the habit.

Working at a school also lets me see inside the minds of the children of England.  Here, there are really strict rules about child safety.  I can understand that there are horrible people in the world who do terrible things to children, but I believe these people are few and far between.  One extreme rule that I've read about relating to sports coaches is that a coach shouldn't even pat a player on the back to say, "Good job!"  With these extreme rules, adults are often afraid to even look or smile at children in public and I've seen many occasions where children or young teens choose a helpless passerby at which to start shouting, "Pedo!" (short for pedophile).  This is so different from how I grew up, so I have found myself disregarding children completely so that they don't choose me as one of their victims to whom they assign this disgusting title.  It must seem like a cold world to children here.  Because I work at a primary school, I do, however, get to speak to the kids and see how they learn.  Within the week or so I've been there, all of the kids are really polite, but there are just as many troublemakers as any school has.  Most of the teachers say exactly what teachers in America say:  "Bad home life."  I have noticed that in this English school, manners are held to a higher standard than in American schools.  Other than that, kids are exactly the same in the UK as in the US.

That is, until you encounter them outside of school.  Now, I don't know which school the kids who I ran into today go to, but they do not know how to apply their manners in 'the streets.'  After an exciting day of coffee table browsing, Lee and I took a walk through the residential zone adjacent to our neighbourhood.  A football (soccer ball, in America) rolled behind us, over the pavement (sidewalk, in America), and across the road.  On such a sunny day, I felt inclined to be overly friendly to the young chaps who were quite far away and kick the ball back to them.  Well, in true Ashley fashion, I kicked the ball across the road, straight into the curb, and it ricocheted right back to my hands.  It looked planned, but it wasn't.  Then, I drop-kicked the ball over to the boys.  They didn't say, "Thank you," but I made sure I shouted, "You're welcome," so at least they knew they were supposed to say it.  Then, I looked down and saw that my hands and jeans were muddy from the ball.  No good deed goes unpunished.  I vowed at that moment that I would never help children again.  But, we know that's not true.

Six minutes later, we found ourselves walking through the dingy park in our neighbourhood.  On our right, there were two men on a bench exchanging something which needed to be rolled and stuffed--drugs, I think?  Then, we saw four thirteen-year-olds ahead.  Dun, dun, dun!  All of them had track suits on, golf clubs in hand, and one of them was smoking--something he probably got from the bench boys.  Since the kids of England know that they are running the show around here and can say anything they want to adults--because of the overprotective laws--I anticipated a showdown.  Now, Lee has warned me before about speaking to children even if they say something rude to me because they will threaten to hurt me, steal something from me, or spit on me.  What Lee has yet to learn, however, is that I'm not really afraid of these kids.  As we passed the boys, one chose to make inappropriate actions with his golf club and sounds with his voice and looked right at us as if he was running some kind of sick show.  I just walked right by him and said, "As if you'd have a clue what that's like."  On the bright side, we weren't threatened, stolen from, or spit on; however, on the downside, the kids didn't stop their crude noises, either.

All of this on one day, in a 10-minute span of time, in Preston.  Enough examples such as these give us the motivation to save up to move to a new town and get away from the unhappy, dark cloud of a city that is Preston.  Now that we're both working, we can move on with these plans sooner rather than later. We have a lot of good things happening in our lives and although these came about in Preston, we'll just take them with us somewhere where the people have some pride in themselves, their property, and their children.

Below are some photos for your viewing pleasure.  In other news, I became a published author with my first research project going to the presses.  When I wrote it with the guidance of my professor, Dr. Jason Ellis, it was the first case study of its kind.  Here is a link to the article:  http://ojs.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/JTL/issue/view/380

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

Preston at Christmas

The Harris Library in Preston

Even the market shelter was decked out for the holidays.

Our house.  It's safer to keep the decorations inside or else they'll be nicked (stolen, in America).

A decoration sent from my family in Ohio.

Lee's stocking

Ashley's stocking

Our first Christmas tree without presents and below, with presents.

My recent hobby of crocheting.  This hat and these scarves were sent to Ohio as presents for Christmas.

Carolling with our church

Our Christmas feast--chicken instead of turkey since it was just the two of us, deviled eggs,  parsnips, brussels sprouts,  roasted potatoes, swede and carrot mash, creamed corn, stuffing, and Waldorf salad.  

Lee opening presents on Christmas.

Lee's cousin Danny, Aunt Nicki, cousin Sophie, and brother Charlie on Boxing Day at Grandpa Don's.

Lee's cousin Sam (middle) with girlfriend Toni and Uncle Andy on the right.

Lee, Grandpa Don, and Ashley

Our New Year's dinner--peppered steak, yorkshire puddings with gravy, roasted potatoes, and roasted asparagus.  We also had shrimp with homemade cocktail sauce (they don't sell that here). 

Lee and Ashley Christmas 2011 

Keepsake ornament from my parents in Ohio.  They didn't know that we'd been looking all over for one that said, "Our First Christmas," but they sent us one anyway!

Lord and Lady Luck

Bonjour, mes amis!  Je regrette for the long wait between blog posts.  Life seems to go faster and faster every day and the time just slips away so quickly.  Fortunately, the update is very promising this time because it seems as though all of our prayers have been answered and everything is going in an upward direction for us.  

When I moved here, I read many articles in the newspapers about high unemployment rates.  I also spoke to other immigrants who told me that in order to be a teacher, I would have to go through another year of schooling to 'upgrade,' in a sense, my Ashland University teaching degree to a British teaching degree.  With this news, I pursued nanny positions, but to no avail.  Before leaving the States, I had a full-time nanny position in place, but I found out when I phoned the parents in September when I arrived that they had given the job to someone else without informing me.  With these setbacks, Lee and I were just hoping that I would find something within the first six months of moving here--not only to contribute financially to the household, but also for my mental health.  After all of the house chores were done, I taught myself how to crochet.  I found myself turning into somewhat of a recluse crocheting scarf and hat sets and watching PBS for hours on end.  In the middle of October, I discovered a possible career venue of being a teaching assistant.  This job would entail helping students, preparing supplies for a classroom teacher, and sometimes leading the class if the teacher is otherwise occupied.  Lee and I both thought that this would be a good pursuit for the time being, so I began sending out applications to schools hiring teaching assistants within a five mile radius of our house.  After the sixth application was sent, I just waited and hoped that one of them would be successful in securing an interview.  

On Friday, November 11, the phone rang at about nine o'clock in the morning and it was someone asking for Mrs. McRae.  Then, a girl said, "This is Rachel from St. Mary and St. Benedict's School.  I'm calling to let you know you've been shortlisted for the TA2 position."  I couldn't believe it!  I said, "Oh my gosh!  That's great!"  Then I eagerly wrote down my interview time and date which was for November 25 at half eight in the morning.  For the following two weeks, I prepared for the interview as much as I could, but also kept it quiet so that if the interview didn't go well, I wouldn't have to be embarrassed.  

That same day, the 11th, an e-mail was sent to all of the employees at Kukri (the company where Lee works) telling them who was selected to attend the Hong Kong Sevens.  This is a huge rugby tournament in Hong Kong and Kukri designs the kits (uniforms, in America) for many of the teams.  The company also takes employees who would be an asset to the marketing and development of their brand while in Hong Kong.  Lee put his name in the mix of those who would like to go on this company-paid trip since he creates the advertisements that are played on the big screens in the stadium.  I'm happy to report that Lee's role as "Video King" will be utilised in Hong Kong this March!  He is really excited to go and to film scenes to use in future videos.  Needless to say, he's also eager to see his hard work for the advertisement in all its glory on the big screen live from Hong Kong.

Well, Lady Luck was on our side again because the teaching assistant interview went swimmingly and when the principal (head teacher) rang six hours after I interviewed and said she was "very impressed" by me and would like to offer me the job, I was ecstatic!  Since the phone call, I've visited and trained at the school and am very happy to be working in a school where the children are taught--and expected to have--good manners along with a very creative curriculum.  This school is full of great teachers who all get along and are welcoming to their new staff.  I was also lucky that they weren't afraid to hire someone who is from another country--which was one of my fears initially.

The same day as this fantastic news, Lee received word at work that his video (uploaded on the last blog post) received 10,000 views.  His employers said that in order for him to receive his next big pay rise, one of his weekly videos would have to be viewed at least 10,000 times before the new year.  The video didn't stop at the minimum though because currently, it has been viewed 31,266 times!  Lee earned a substantial pay rise which will go into effect on January 1.

From Kukri, we were also privileged to two VIP tickets for an International Netball Tournament at the Echo Arena in Liverpool for Saturday, the 26th.  Netball is similar to basketball, but it is only played by women and some players are restricted by where they can move on the court.  There is also no backboard on the net, so the shooters are much more skilled than basketball players, in my opinion.  The tickets were a huge surprise and a great way to celebrate all of the blessings that had been falling into our laps.

The last piece of our lucky streak is that we won the lottery--£6 on a scratch ticket!  It might be a bit of a stretch, but as you may have figured out from the other posts, it doesn't take much to get me excited.

Lee and I are really happy that much of our worries have gone away, which makes life a lot more fun.  We are able to relax about any financial issues because we will be able to save now for the future--mainly for a house of our own and our British drivers licenses.  I know many of you in the States have been praying for us and it seems that with all of this good news, God is definitely watching out for us.  In the past month, our lives have changed immensely.  Lee and I are in a town where we have no connections aside from our co-workers.  I'm sure this will change as we become more involved in the community, but for now, we feel most lucky to have each other.  No matter what luck comes our way, we can always depend on one another.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and that you find yourselves surrounded by love, family, and friends during this next week.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

Below are some photos for your viewing pleasure.

At the beginning of each netball game, the players' names would be announced and then they'd run onto the court with flames.  The signs around the court read, "Netball just got a little hotter."  It was super cheesy, but it got the crowd excited.

Jamaica (yellow team) vs. New Zealand

Jamaica vs. New Zealand, NZ won 30-29

England (red team) vs. Jamaica

England vs. Jamaica, Jamaica won 21-16

After their second game of the day, Lee and I just happened to be sitting near three of the English girls' families, so we found ourselves surrounded by three professional netball players.  We definitely felt like VIP then.

England Team

England

England and Jamaica after their match